Survey: 84% of OpenSim users would recommend platform

OpenSim users overwhelmingly said that they would “absolutely” recommend the platform to others.

Out of 114 people who responded to our survey this week and answered this question, 84 percent said they would “absolutely recommend” it, with only 1 percent saying they would “absolutely not recommend” the platform.

Of the rest, 3 percent said they would hesitate to recommend it, 3 percent said they don’t know, 3 percent said they would only recommend InWorldz, 3 percent said they would only recommend it to experienced users, and 2 percent said they would recommend that people wait for the technology to improve.

“If you are aware OpenSim is alpha software, I recommend it,” wrote in one OpenSim user.

InWorldz users vocal and satisfied

By far the largest group of respondents were people who rent land on the InWorldz grid, a sign of that company’s ability to mobilize its customers base — and the level of enthusiasm of those customers.

Absolute number of respondents. (Data: Hypergrid Business survey)

In total, 65 people said they were renting land on InWorldz, 66 percent of whom said that the platform was either “pretty stable” or “very reliable.” Only 5 percent said the grid was “very unstable” and 17 percent said it was “a little unstable.” 12 percent said that InWorldz was “absolutely reliable.”

This positive response is in line with other data, showing that InWorldz has been gaining a lot of new land owners and new users in recent months.

The grid managers promoted the survey to their customer base on Twitter and on the grid’s forum pages. It’s a risky move for a company to actively urge their customers to take a third-party survey, since there’s no way to bury the results if they don’t turn out well.

Absolute number of respondents. (Data: Hypergrid Business survey)

ReactionGrid, which runs more than 100 private grids for companies and educational institutions — including its ReactionGrid main grid and JokaydiaGrid — had 15 customers responding to our survey. Of those, 7 percent — just one respondent — said their service was “very unstable,” 20 percent — three respondents — said it was “a little unstable” and 60 percent said it was “pretty stable” or “very reliable.” 13 percent said it was “absolutely reliable.”

The response rates from other hosting providers were more positive, but the number of responses was too small to draw firm conclusions.

Of 11 people who used Dreamland Metaverse, eight said it was “very reliable” and three said it was “absolutely reliable.” Of the five people who said they used SimHost, three said the service was “pretty stable” and two said it was “absolutely reliable.” Of the three people who said they used New Voice, two said it was “very reliable” and one said it was “absolutely reliable.”

In addition, one respondent said that Avination was “very reliable.” One respondent said that New World Grid was “absolutely reliable.” One said that AlphaTowne was “very reliable.” And two respondents were renting land on ScienceSim — one said it was “very reliable” and one that it was “absolutely reliable.”

Happy grid owners

After InWorldz renters, the next largest group of respondents were those who owned their own grids, with 46 people saying that they were running OpenSim on their own servers, with some specifying that they were using the Diva Distro.

Absolute number of respondents. (Data: Hypergrid Business survey)

This group of OpenSim users, who were running OpenSim on their own servers, were slightly happier with their OpenSim performance than others. Only 2 percent said that their grids were “very unstable” and 15 percent said their grids were “absolutely reliable.” 17 percent said that their grids were “a little unstable” and 65 percent said their grids were either “pretty stable” or “very reliable.”

Overall, OpenSim users were very happy with the prices they were paying for their hosting.

(Data: Hypergrid Business survey)

Of the 103 respondents who answered this question, more than 55 percent said that OpenSim hosting was “a bargain.” Only 4 percent said it was overpriced, and 41 percent said that the prices were reasonable for the services provided.

For comparison purposes, we also asked our readers about their Second Life experience.

Absolute number of respondents. (Data: Hypergrid Business survey)

Out of 110 respondents who said they rented land on Second Life, 7 percent said that the platform was “very unstable,” higher than the OpenSim average. 17 percent said it was “a little unstable” and 67 percent said it was “pretty stable” or “very reliable.” 9 percent said that Second Life was “absolutely reliable.”

These numbers do not necessarily reflect Second Life users as a whole, since people and organizations who had problems with Second Life would be more likely to explore OpenSim alternatives.

Vehicles most wanted

The single most wanted OpenSim feature for Hypergrid Business readers was vehicle physics, with 48 percent of respondents saying that they missed this feature.

Absolute number of respondents. (Data: Hypergrid Business survey)

This was followed by an online marketplace, search, a wider selection of content and voice. Respondents also wanted to see hypergrid-enabled friends, instant messaging and landmarks.

Users were also interested in shared media, mesh, more community, more stability, groups, and better support.

Some of these features — including shared media and mesh — are already available on some grids and with some viewers.

Individual respondents also wrote in wish list items, including the ability to ban people from sims, the ability to add notes to profiles, advanced scripting calls, the ability to attach notes to group notices, and user profiles.

Low prices, megaprims tie for favorite features

So what brings people to OpenSim? Low prices and megaprims tied for first place when it comes to the most selected favorite features of the platform.

Absolute number of respondents. (Data: Hypergrid Business survey)

Low prices and megaprims were selected by 65 percent of the respondents. The numbers add up to more than 100 percent because people could check multiple features.

High prim limits were close behind, with 62 percent. Region backups, having your own grid, inventory backups, the open source nature of the OpenSim software, hypergrid, megaregions, security and privacy were also attractive to our readers.

One respondent wrote in that the ability to exercise control over intellectual property and copyright was important. Mesh also received a write-in vote, as did “finally able to own my own region” and “the potential for growth and community partnerships.”

Maria Korolov is editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business. She has been a journalist for more than twenty years and has worked for the Chicago Tribune, Reuters, and Computerworld and has reported from over a dozen countries, including Russia and China.

Azzura you are 100% correct and once again Maria has distorted the facts to her own view and perceptions. ReactionGrid Inc. is a virtual world hosting platform. Our client base has their own independent grids with their own rules, focus and abilities. To state “ReactionGrid (the company) runs ReactiongGrid (the grid), JokaydiaGrid (the grid)” is a complete misrepresentation of the truth. We in no way run the Jokaydia grid. They make sure it keeps running, create events, offer hosting, develop unique applications, they ARE a hosting operation.

I am shocked by your ignorance of how Opensim provides independent users the ability to define their own worlds and offer unique hosting. You have once again confused your readership as to the reality of how Hypergrid works and how Opensim is used. Jokaydia is in fact an Opensim host themselves offering $25 and up rentals. Did you ask Jokay about this? Azzura could you please consider writing a periodic blog about Opensim to bring some clarity to Opensim reporting?

On a separate note we did not promote this poll on our social media outlets as you blanket stated above. We would never do so as this would compromise the legitimacy of the vote. Our company is not afraid of the results of any poll. We gauge our customer satisfaction by our own internal metrics. It is not our job to promote your polls or anything else on this site. Other grids that choose to do so are absolutely in their rights. We, however, handle such things in our own manner.

Incredibly disappointed wit the journalistic missteps here.

Congrats to the peers of ReactionGrid, Inworldz, SimHost etc., for collectively getting good responses about Opensim and bringing real choice to virtual world offerings. We are in good company.

Kyle G
CEO ReactionGrid Inc.

Wayfinder

I'd like to be frank here (typical of my posts, lol) and honestly state what I feel about all this. First, I kind of like some of Maria's posts. They're always interesting. I don't necessarily agree with all (or even a lot), but interesting reads, regardless. Now, regarding 1) This survey… 2) OpenSim and 3) Inworldz… let me get a couple things off my chest.

This is an interesting survey– however unreliable. Why do I say unrealible?

Because anyone who states that ANY grid currently out there (including SL) is "pretty stable", "reliable" or "very stable" is obviously testing California's new medical products.

There is NO grid out there that is even "pretty stable". Even Second Life loses inventory, can't get even simple chat to work, and has a society that is in upheaval. OpenSim? Does even come CLOSE to stable. Simple reality would indicate that there are either people with agendas manipulating the survey… or folks unable to discern the line between reality and fond wishes. ; )

No insult or offense intended, just telling it like it is.

As far as the grids out there, I personally am rather amused at the number of people I see who are all-too-willing to include Inworldz in their "OpenSim is booming stats"– and then turn right around and condemn the board because Inworldz doesn't play by THEIR rules. Inworldz is currently the most successful single grid on the planet besides Second Life. They are the most technologically advanced, and the friendliest and most user-supportive I have seen. Anyone else out there have functioning groups AND complex object inventory AND a fully functional financial / merchant system… etc etc etc.

Inworldz is currently (in my opinion) the best offense against Linden Lab monopolistic and abusive practices… and all the rest of OpenSim can do is trash the company because what… they dare to actually run a logical and sensible business?

I like the survey. Have no problem with it. It may not be totally accurate or non-slanted, but very few surveys are. The problem with surveys is they can always be gamed… and these most likely were. Still, it does give us an IDEA of what people want, need and how they feel.

As Maria points out (and good job on that call Maria)… Inworldz had to be pretty confident in their board to ask their members to take part in a third party survey. I've seen Linden Lab do that before and achieve serious FAIL (most notably… with their own Viewer 2 survey that showed an 88% disapproval rate). Inworldz on the other hand, knows what they're doing, knows their people… and I think that came through on the results.

I'm not an Inworldz sycophant. I simply recognize a company that has its head on its shoulders when I see it. I worked as a professional business consultant for almost 3 decades– and I can tell you, Inworldz is a company that knows its business. I specialized in forecasting future events and pointing business in the right direction… and Elenia is the first person I've met in 6 years that could out-perform me in that area (or at least… was already aware when I brought a market trend to her attention). That's says a lot.

I will add that Inworldz has bent over backwards to both welcome and assist my group– something I received from no other grid. (Mind you, the Reaction Grid people were decent people. Want to state that right up front. They just couldn't meet our needs.)

So if I may (although it may be a bit off topic.. but not much off topic)… I think the entire OpenSim community should start looking to Inworldz and applaud them for what they've accomplished. After all, they're not anyone's enemy (save for maybe Linden Lab, LOL). What they are… is proof, after all this time, that OpenSim can achieve what it's wanted to achieve. Do you folks want OpenSim to REALLY accomplish great things? It wouldn't hurt to do what Inworldz is doing… start treating it like a business– with sensible business guidelines, instead of an amateur-hour ego arena.

That means start funding the system so you can pay professional devs, put an end to the in-fighting and ego wars, put an end to the code-sniping and very bad core designs (honestly folks, the core code of OpenSim seriously needs re-built from the ground up, because it's a mess)… and get OpenSim code up to snuff.

In the meantime… a little applause and approval for Inworldz for actually accomplishing what OpenSim has been trying to accomplish for years… might not hurt. They are after all, trying to achieve the same thing you're trying to achieve– a stable, low-cost alternative to the iron-curtain mentality of Second Life.

Let me tell you what my group has accomplished on Inworldz. We were stagnating on Second Life. The OpenSpace sim fiasco forced us to drop from 8 sims to 2. It totally derailed our group plans and goals and basically turned a large number of our members against Linden Lab and Second Life. Our group has always been very active, a premiere fantasy group on SL. But after October 2008, severe apathy set in, jaded attitudes, failed concepts. Our events stopped drawing attention (people no longer cared), and event hosts stopped hosting (kind of demotivating to see ones goals trashed by the host company). Some people thought it was Elf Clan, that we were just in decline. I knew it was not– that the real problem was with the Second Life platform and atmosphere.

I was proved right when we moved to Inworldz. Almost the moment we did so, our members started taking interest again. Freed of the abusive and policy-unstable venue of Second Life, our people started building. Our two sims I personally held there expanded to FIFTEEN over the course of six months… as our members started purchasing their own sims and joining them to our newly-created Elf Clan Fantasy continent. We are able to thrive on Inworldz because we have GROUPS, a functioning ECONOMY, and a very, very supportive company.

So Elf Clan went from decline stage on Second Life (as are hundreds of other groups there)… to booming on Inworldz.

We could not have done that if Inworldz wasn't on the right track. When our group purchased our first sim on Inworldz in April of this year, Inworldz had 14 regions and 100 members. When we took an interest in that grid, others did too. Now Inworldz has some 650 regions and almost 20,000 members… and for the most part people are VERY pleased. No, it's not perfect– not even SL is perfect (far from it). But it has become home. It's difficult to argue with success when that success includes satisfied and happy customers.

So OpenSim or HyperGrid, Reaction Grid or Inworldz or WhateverGrid… you folks are all on the same team, with the same ultimate goal– to prosper the concept of VR. Instead of looking at yourselves as "competitors", maybe everyone should start viewing one another as family members. The bigger and friendlier the family– the better.

Kyle: "Congrats to the peers of ReactionGrid, Inworldz, SimHost etc., for collectively getting good responses about Opensim and bringing real choice to virtual world offerings. We are in good company."

And this is why I said RG is good people. This is a very realistic and balanced view– the view ALL of OpenSim should have regarding all the grids. We're all on the same side. : )

It seems as though you changed horses mid-stream. I realize that both words are commonly interchanged within the English language but assuming that you used both in the adjective form, they do have somewhat different meanings.

I would have liked to have participated in the survey considering I have avi’s in all the worlds mentioned. I will watch for the next survey as you mentioned in your comment.

I do disagree that Inworldz is the most technologically advanced. Each Opensim world has done unique development. Much of the technology we all benefit from has come from OSGrid and that continues. If there is one grid who deserves praise for contributing to the community and testing new and innovative features for the benefit of all it is OSGrid. That said ReactionGrid is about to release our own version of groups as well as free augmented reality tools and other advanced features particular to our customer base. We have integration with our Jibe platform which will continue to deepen for web, mobile, console and desktop systems. We serve institutions like Microsoft, Xerox, Raytheon, Siemens, Aspyr Studios and schools like Boston College, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Veterans Administration along with smaller groups. The metric we use to gauge satisfaction is profit margins and repeat business both of which are very healthy. We have added 8 staff members in 2010 with an expected 15 more in 2011 with a projected 7 figure revenue based on 2010 earnings. We are very happy.

First, I will say I think the blanket statement was more pointed at InWorldz for engaging our users to participate in the poll. Although I can definitely see where the misconception of it being a "blanket statement" could apply as there is no division between that and then the lead in to RG.

Secondly, while I agree with the fact that OpenSim allows each grid to have unique development, I will disagree that each has done that. There are few grids who have done their own unique development. And those that have, such as RG or InWorldz, have done so at the behest of their customer base. Kudos to the grids for listening to their users for understanding what they want to have in the platform. Therefore, the technology that has advanced on those grids, may be completely dissimilar, but yet, not to be disparaged as to which is more technologically advanced. It's all reliant on the user base for that particular grid.

Thirdly, based on the second point, this is what will allow the Virtual World platform to develop over time as each grid takes the time to specialize in their own areas where they truly shine. This will allow the end users to have their presence wherever they are most content and with what they are looking for. It's the catch all of no grid can cater to everyone, we saw this attempted, and it has resonated a large failure.

Congrats to RG for the figures, although I think trying to compare apples to apples vs. the two is a stretch at best as our two grids are two vastly different market segments.

I completely agree Elenia. RG and Inworldz have different focuses & roadmaps-illustrating the strength of Opensim. I understand how it could be that Maria meant to say Inworldz had rallied their user base, it is the lead in to our stats that makes it seem like we are included in that statement as you say. It is also true not every grid has modified the Opensim code but there are many more worlds out there that have than what has been listed.

You have very fairly commented on the situation. While I think this poll was done in a rushed manner I am glad it spurred a conversation amongst us. We need to "grow the pie" together. Kudos to Inworlds and others for pushing forward virtual worlds in their own vision. We love our virtual peers…

Apologies Kyle. I wasn't aware RG was doing its own dev work now (admitted, it has been about a year since I checked on your board). So glad to hear that's going on.

I will say of all the grids out there, the two I have consistently respected is Inworldz and Reaction Grid. It's not that there aren't other good folks out there, but right now VR is in turmoil (including Linden Lab, which apparently is so ashamed/paranoid about their user/sim stats they've decided to hide them from public view). But I respect IZ and RG for two different reasons:

Inworldz is run like a real business, with its #1 focus on customer welfare. I think most OS grids are focused on customer welfare, but Elenia and Tranq have made a point of it. I have even seen them make decisions that weren't necessarily in the best interest of the company itself, because they knew it would benefit their customers (and therefore ultimately, Inworldz). In short, they're smart and savvy and VERY user friendly. I like that.

Reaction Grid is also customer friendly, but has in the past been more tied to OS code than Inworldz (which is the reason Elf Clan switched from RG to IZ… as a large group we simply needed things that were not available to us on RG). But the two things I liked: when we decided to switch, the RG people were friendly, understanding, and wished us the best. I think they'd have given us a "going away gift" if such were possible. LOL. Friendly people. But most important to our group was RG's unique "PG only" rating. Mind you, PG only isn't for everyone… but it works for RG. It attracts education and families and rare groups such as Elf Clan, who thrive in such concepts. I have always highly respected RG for having the guts to go the all-PG route… and proving it could work. That's exactly what Elf Clan did years ago; we bucked the SL mentality and declared our group "G rated, family-friendly"… and proved that there are people who want exactly that. I think our 2000+ strong membership indicates there are plenty of people who agree with such things.

Like Elenia and Kyle, it is apparent that the industry is both fracturing, and congealing. Rather than the shotgun approach of Second Life, we are seeing grids specialize and draw specific markets. Inworldz and Reaction Grid both aren't just successful… they both have very loyal members. As Elenia stated, one cannot compare apples to apples here; we cannot say one apple is "better" just because it's larger than another apple. Different flavors, different intents, different markets. That's how the entire World Wide Web operates… and no one in his right mind would consider that concept a failure.

There is room in this industry for friendly competition, cooperation, trading of code, assistance to other businesses, and even sending customers to areas of special interest. At this point folks, we are seeing a crumbling of the iron curtain monopoly that has long surrounded Second Life. Linden Lab has proved stubborn beyond all belief in their insistence on doing things "their" way. Companies such as Inworldz and Reaction Grid (an a score of others) are now giving us an alternative. If there is anything I am sorry to see, it's that the entire OpenSim project wasn't more cohesive, better-managed, and more cooperative. But that's a whole 'nuther thread.

Short run… I very much appreciate companies such as IZ and RG… as well as the inevitable others that will show up as entrepreneurs realize there is a wonderful market opportunity that LL has left wide open. Their loss… our gain. : )

Gaga Gracious

It’s all very well for Wayfinder to urge the Opensim community to work together, quote:

“At this point folks, we are seeing a crumbling of the iron curtain monopoly that has long surrounded Second Life. Linden Lab has proved stubborn beyond all belief in their insistence on doing things, their way. Companies such as Inworldz and Reaction Grid (an a score of others) are now giving us an alternative. If there is anything I am sorry to see, it’s that the entire OpenSim project wasn’t more cohesive, better-managed, and more cooperative.”

But, the owners of InWorldz have made no bones about their contempt for the Opensim core developers and Elania has been both rude and critical of them in the past. And it’s easy for them to talk about Linden Lab’s iron curtain policy until you scratch the surface of InWorldz and find they practice the same policy. They are very good at getting refugees from SL into Iz but, by the same token, they are just as intent as LL at keeping them bottled in too. Elania has stated Iz dose not accept the core Opensim any longer, which clearly means they have forked off and it is debatable if Iz can be called an Opensim grid at all now yet clearly, by the responses here, they still want to be seen as members of the community. No one is obliged to contribute back to the core to help improve it but it is something community members do if they have the expertise and that is all part of working together as Wayfinder urges above.

Hypergrid is about being open to the wider community, to permit free travel between grids and, while I am sure Elania will point to content protection as her reason for not implementing Hypergrid – which I guess they can’t anyway since they have forked – it rather strikes me as keeping a one-way door open to potential traffic from the rest of the Opensim community more than being an enthusiastic contributor. And it’s not hard to fathom a reason either. InWorldz owners have a business plan. It’s the same business plan Open Life has (another forked OS none-contributing grid), from whence they came or, rather left in a blaze of accusation and ill-will. They are clearly intent on building a closed propitiatory grid to rival the remnant SecondLife as it slowly dies a death. Well, there is another part of the OS community that wants an open metaverse and I know, from statements Elania has made, she doesn’t consider it workable or viable. In deed, she doesn’t consider the core OS workable or viable come to that. The Iz version has been re-worked and all the bugs left over from years of badly handled contributions and bad management dealt with, function that should have been implemented now working – so she says.

That said, I don’t doubt the hard work they put in both to developing their version of OS and the customer base they are building in Iz. In fact I have several friends who are in InWorldz and they make no complaints. Rock Vacirca, author of Chapter & Metaverse, gave a glowing review of Iz and when I visited I can’t say I wasn’t welcomed. I was and quickly shown freebies to make myself look presentable – a big plus of course – and I think it was Elania herself who greeted me and proved helpful and pleasant. Not unlike the far off days when Phillip Linden used to greet new arrivals in the early SecondLife. So, for those happy to move from one closed grid to another InWorldz is as good as any.

The bottom line though is that Wayfinder can preach about working together but to who’s benefit I ask?

If it’s for the benefit of Open Simulator and the community that has grown up around it then great. But I rather suspect it has more to do with promoting InWorldz and it’s owners as community leaders, and Iz as the place to be.

Apart from all that I think Maria has done her best to analysis the results of this survey fairly and no one can be totally accurate trying to report on Opensim. The free metaverse grids and the other closed grids it spawned are widely dispersed and diverse. It is really hard to even get a half accurate concurrency figure for the free meterverse as a whole – impossible actually – but I think, at any given time, somewhere between 1000 and 2000 users may be logged into a grid. Region counts don’t really mean very much and total registrations honestly mean little at all since many will just be people grabbing their ID on as many grids as they can. It doesn’t mean they will ever login, even once.

Wayfinder Wishbringer

Belated reply; I was checking old links and found this forum. Decided to reply to Gaga. 🙂

I appreciated your post Gaga and respect your opinions. They reflect how many people feel about Inworldz, and I can understand. We’ve been so burned by the “iron curtain” mentality of Second Life, it’s easy to be cautious of any other closed grid.

However, the difference between Second Life and Inworldz is night and day (and has remained so for the 3 years I’ve been a member of Inworldz).

* Inworldz asks their customers what we want, what we think, and they listen. That alone sets them apart from Second Life.

* Inworldz allows us to export our builds… even if they contain freebie parts from other creators. So they’re not “iron curtain”.

* Inworldz tries to avoid doing things customers do not want. LL… not so much.

At this time Elf Clan has over 45 regions on Inworldz… and our members couldn’t be happier. I poll our folks from time to time to see how they’re doing. The only complaints I ever receive are viewer-related or individual performance (trouble seeing this or that, textures not loading, etc just like any other grid. Typical individual experiences). I don’t recall any legitimate negative comments about Inworldz itself. As a whole, our group is very happy on the grid.

You are right Gaga, Inworldz is a closed society. It is incorrect to state it doesn’t contribute back to OpenSim. I am aware that Tranq and Jim often provide feedback to the OpenSim project if they locate and fix a severe bug (if they can do so without compromising their company welfare).

Like you, some people feel Inworldz has somehow betrayed OpenSim by breaking off from that central project and forming a company. Perhaps what needs to be realized is that not everyone wants the open “freedom” slash anarchy of the OpenSim project. Some desire a bit more control and direction– and are willing to pay for it.

Let’s be honest; I’ve watched the OpenSim project for nigh on four years and I am seeing little progress overall. There are tidbits I notice here and there, but what comes out overall is a codebase that is still very laggy, asset servers that don’t work all that well, and rather poor performance. I’m not dissing OpenSim; I’m just commenting on the reality of the situation. Comparatively I log in to Inworldz and its like taking a gasp of fresh air. Their scripting engine rocks, the lag is far less intense than OpenSim, and their code is progressing almost daily. Inworldz is fixing major bugs that have existed on OpenSim for years.

On OpenSim I see the same problems I saw with Linden Lab when they allowed their employes to “work on whatever they wanted”; bugs didn’t get fixed and people kept bringing out pet projects we didn’t really need. OpenSim lacks the professional structure that large groups and merchants need. That is why member of Elf Clan are willing to pay a monthly fee month after month rather than accessing “free” OpenSim; Inworldz provides what we need.

No, they’re not going to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in their business and then give the code away to the OpenSim project. That would be blockhead stupid of them… nay, moronic. They are a business. OpenSim folks need to pull their heads out of the idealistic clouds and realize that. It’s not all about everyone working together for the greater good of mankind; some folks have to work for a living. If Inworldz can run a business and provide what customers need for a fee we’re happy to pay… that’s how business works. They’re not expected to give away their hard work so that other grids can compete against them without making the severe investment. That’s just business. That doesn’t mean they’re an “iron curtain”; it means they know how to run a business.

Gaga: “The bottom line though is that Wayfinder can preach about working
together but to who’s benefit I ask? If it’s for the benefit of Open
Simulator and the community that has
grown up around it then great. But I rather suspect it has more to do
with promoting InWorldz and it’s owners as community leaders, and Iz as
the place to be.”

The problem with impuning motives Gaga, is that doing so always comes out as not knowing what one is talking about… because that’s usually the case. I very rarely “openly promote” Inworldz. I will tell people what I think about the grid when they ask– or when they challenge its ethics, integrity, intent or accomplishments.

For the record, just to be fair, Inworldz and its owners ARE community leaders. That much should be very obvious… especially since they’re the most successful paid grid outside of Second Life. Evidently many people respect and support the Inworldz grid.

When I speak about working together, it isn’t for the benefit of Inworldz. Inworldz will do fine whether it works with OpenSim or not; they’ve proved that. I’ve seen Inworldz progress leaps and bounds. My comment would therefore obviously be for the benefit of OpenSim, encouraging their community leaders to organize better, to prioritize tasks, to start handing out coding assignments. What we have now is a largely disjointed community with everyone working on whatever… and relatively little overall progress being made. When I talk about everyone working together, I mention the OpenSim community functioning as a whole rather than a disjointed bunch of workers throwing stuff into a pile and hoping it works out in the end. OpenSim wanted to challenge Linden Lab. It doesn’t even come close. Inworldz on the other hand, is about to bring in PhysX and when they do… they will technically be the most technically advanced and powerful VR grid in the world, leaving even SL behind in the dust. (Thanks, I’ll take fully functional megaprims, 45k prims and no link limits over mesh and floppy boobs any day).

The question is: why isn’t OpenSim already there? They’ve had far more time and far more people resources than Inworldz. And that’s the point I was making overall… not to promote Inworldz over anyone else, but to point out that OpenSim as a whole could do worse than to learn some lessons in organization from the Inworldz company. Because frankly, Inworldz is achieving their goals, one right after the other. Isn’t that what everyone should be doing?